Henry Mayer found 86 US Army dog tags, located during the last
19 years within 10 miles of Port Moresby. All the ones I found prior to this, I gave to Bruce Hoy when he was
curator at the PNG War Museum. Pictured is a collection of American dog
tags found in the Port Moresby area. Most
tags were found at either Durand Drome (17-Mile) or Jackson Drome (7-Mile) areas. A
complete list of tags is presented below. To date, some of the dgot tags have been returned including Gurden
Barnett and Carl
Hustard.

Collection of US Army dog tags found in Port Moresby area by Henry Mayer

Thanks to Niels J. Zussblatt of National
Archives Military Personnel Records for
death dates. He explains:
"These are real dog tags of the type that were issued early
during WWII. Later, there were three tags: a pair
contained Name, Service Number, Blood Type, Religion and sometimes Tetnus
immunization month/year. These are the 3rd tag that lists the military
members Next of Kin (Wife, Father, or Mother) and their address. This
was so that forward units could write to the next of kin if the military
person was killed or wounded. This
was done because it was not practical to carry paper records into forward
combat areas, especially wet areas where papers would mildew."